


Echo

by Wolfcry22



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Blood, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Canon Compliant, Confessions, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Poe Dameron/Finn, Fainting, Fever, Fever Dreams, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Poe Dameron, Hurt/Comfort, Infection, Injury, M/M, Medical Procedures, Pilot Poe Dameron, Poe Dameron Hurts So Prettily, Poe Dameron Is A Mess, Poe Dameron Needs A Hug, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Protective Finn (Star Wars), Sick Character, Sickfic, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:34:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27145283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfcry22/pseuds/Wolfcry22
Summary: Poe is feverish and starts confessing fears and experiences to Finn in his dazed state. Finn learns that he still has a ways to go to get through to Poe.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn
Comments: 6
Kudos: 83





	1. Dealing Alone

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea pop into my head about what if Poe had an infected wound and tries to hide it from Finn. This story will have graphic depictions of wounds and signs of infection (blood, pus, etc.) So please be aware of that as well as other medical procedures that could be triggering. I hope that you guys all enjoy and are staying safe and healthy!

Poe hissed as he lifted his arm and started to gingerly pry the gauze from his skin. He could smell the stench that rose from it and the wound leaked pus and blood. It was painful to try and pull the gauze from it as it stuck to his jagged and broken skin where the wound was still open. Poe quickened the movements to pull off the gauze from his wound and swallowed the pain that rose in his throat. When he finally pried it off, he let the blood drenched gauze fall to the ground.

"Ugh, damnit," Poe muttered as he leaned against the sink, panting hard. His head throbbed and his neck ached as his head lolled forward. He squeezed his eyes together painfully before slowly glancing up to look at himself in the mirror.

Poe looked awful.

That was something that he could see and agree with. His eyes were slightly sunken and sullen, his face was as white as a sheet, a green sheen seemed to show on his face while sweat collected on his brow and top of his lip, and his hair was disheveled and in desperate need of a wash. His stomach churned despite the fact that he hadn't eaten since breakfast the day prior. He was nauseous and dizzy while everything seemed to swim in front of his vision. He clutched firmly at the sink until his knuckles turned white so that he didn't fall over.

A worrisome and conflicted sounding beeps echoed behind him. Poe blinked his bleary eyes before turning to the side and noticing BB-8 at the door of the fresher. Poe forced a half smile as he kneeled down, careful not to move too quickly and risk bringing up what little he had in his stomach. "Hey, buddy," Poe joked with a forced smile as BB-8 rolled forward. Poe slightly leaned forward and rested his forehead against the coolness of BB-8's dome. It was comforting and helped ebb the pain of his throbbing head. "Mmm, yeah, I'm okay."

BB-8 let out another string of pungent beeps. Those were harder for Poe to follow thanks to his headache and the sluggishness of his mind. He managed to pick up a few words here and there, but it was mostly muddled. Usually he was sharper than this and now he could barely piece together what BB-8 was trying to say. "M'fine," Poe managed to spit out. "Just tired. Maybe I need a nap."

BB-8 let out a shrill warble and Poe grimaced. "Yeah, I know that I have a date with Finn. I know," he began as he rested both hands on BB-8's side and hauled himself into an upright sitting position. His head threatened to fall forward and his eyes jam closed, but he managed to keep himself as composed as possible. "I'll be fine. Just need to wake myself up. I'll be fine once I start moving around."

Poe grunted with effort as he reached for the sink and pulled himself to his feet. His body seemed to howl in protest as he staggered toward the sink. He gagged hard as his stomach clenched. However, he couldn't bring anything up and all he could do was wait it out. Once the retching stopped, Poe reached out his hands and feebly fumbled for the handles of the sink. He quickly turned one of them on as cool water splashed into the sink. Poe cupped his shaky hands under the stream of water and splashed it on his face.

A few beads of water ran down his neck and caused him to shiver. He whimpered heavily before making his way over to one of the towels that was hanging on the rack. He pressed his face into it and reveled in the softness. He wanted nothing more than to just sink to the ground and use the towel as a pillow. That seemed so simple and yet that wasn't something he could do, despite wanting to. 

Poe forced himself to straighten again. He crept over to the fresher door where he had a shirt and pants hung up. It was nothing too fancy since the planet that the Resistance base was on was very humid. Poe still wanted to dress up a little and look good for Finn, even though he felt like absolute shit. He could put on a brave face for Finn. It was the least that he could do really.  
  
Poe didn't even care that the fresher door was open and BB-8 was still there. He still stripped down to his boxers while being increasingly gentle when he had to pull his shirt over his head and around his wound. The stench that rose from it made Poe's stomach threaten to flip once again. All he could do was close his eyes and will himself to calm down and yet he feared that wouldn't be a possibility for much longer. He felt weak on his feet and the world seemed to tilt so that Poe felt he was constantly at risk of falling backwards.

He gave his head an undignified shake as he leaned forward and ran his fingers through his hair. It took a few moments for him to compose himself and he could lift himself to a standing position once more without leaning on anything. He knew that if he didn't hurry then he was going to be late and that couldn't happen. Finn already thought that something was up with Poe and Poe was not about to feed into that. 

After some mental coaxing on his part, Poe managed to lower his arm into the sink. His hand quivered on the knob as he turned it and cool water splashed into his wound. Poe lifted his other hand into his mouth and bit down hard so that he almost felt his fingers breaking with the effort. Tears rolled down his cheeks as the water kept washing through his wound in an effort to clean it.

BB-8 let out a few more concerned beeps as Poe yanked his arm away from the water and quickly turned it off. He was practically panting with the effort to keep himself standing, and when he looked to the wound, he saw hit blood and pus still welling up. "That didn't help anything," Poe cried as he lifted his palm and pressed it against his eyes. "Kriff that hurt!”

BB-8 rolled forward and brought a towel in one of his small claw extensions. He handed it up to Poe and Poe stooped down to take it. "Thanks, buddy," he murmured as he lifted it and pressed it into his arm. Poe couldn't stop a sudden wail from leaving his lips as he gritted his teeth together once more. "Kriffing hurts. Damnit!"

The little orange and white droid instinctively rolled back after hearing Poe's exclamations. Poe bowed his head and nodded slowly. "Sorry, sorry," he apologized as he waved toward his droid. "It's not your fault. I'm more mad at myself than anyone else. I just need to ignore it and keep going."

Poe pulled the towel away from his wound and tried not to look at the yellow and dark brown patch that was left on the towel. He looked under the sink and found some more gauze and didn't hesitate to wrap it around his arm as tightly as possible. He needed to keep it as contained as possible so that Finn didn't catch wind that something was wrong.

Once Poe finished, he quickly stepped into his pants and checked himself out in the mirror. He slightly grimaced at how he looked. He turned to look over to BB-8. "How do I look?"

BB-8 drew back and gave a harsh beep. Poe lowered his head and sighed. "Yeah, I know. I look worse than death. Let's see if I can do anything about that." He grunted as he leaned over the sink and lifted his hand to run his fingers through his curls. His fingers snagged in some knots, but Poe didn't have time to work them out. He had spent too much of his time laying on his bed hoping that he would feel better and had nearly missed getting ready entirely. 

Poe tried to splash more water on his face and that only caused him to shiver again. He wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed and never come out. He felt like death and that was him being generous. No matter how awful he felt, he knew that he couldn't let Finn down. He could muster through a few hours to spend with his boyfriend if he really set his mind to it. It was the first time that they were going to have even the slightest break from their General duties and nothing was going to stop Poe from meeting Finn.

Poe turned and took one step forward when suddenly his body slightly gave way and knees buckled. He staggered, but managed to stretch out his hands and collide them against BB-8's dome. The astromech fought to help Poe straighten while trying not to let him fall in the process. 

The Resistance General gave his head a weak shake as he straightened. "Sorry, sorry," he rasped with his eyes slightly closed. He felt a renewed strength seem to pulse through him at the prospect of being able to see Finn. "I'm good, I'm good. Let's do this."


	2. Fighting Through

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing is going to stop Poe from spending time with Finn, even when he knows that he shouldn’t.

Poe struggled down the hallway almost in a daze. He struggled to keep his eyes open while BB-8 helped lead him forward. He was aware of a few other pilots wave at him as they passed, but all Poe could do was give a tiny nod of his head as he continued toward the mess hall. It wasn't the most romantic place for a date, but it was one of the only places to eat on the base.

He felt relief pulse over him when he saw the mess hall loom into view. He made his way in with BB-8 rolling after him. Poe picked out Finn sitting at one of the tables with food for both of them. The last thing that Poe wanted to do was eat, but Finn would definitely know if something was up if he didn't at least nibble on something. He tried to swallow the nausea that made it’s way up his throat. Poe knew that he had to act as chipper as possible as he drew over to him.

He came behind Finn and wrapped his arms around his shoulders. Finn jumped a little before he craned his head to the side to look up and see Poe standing over him. "Hey, you," Finn laughed with his eyes glowing in affection for the Resistance General.

Poe leaned forward and gingerly planted a kiss to Finn's lips. He didn't hover too long since he was afraid that Finn would sense something was off from the heat Poe was giving off. "Sorry I'm late. BB-8 kept me," he lied with a nod to his droid as he walked to the other side of the table to sit across from Finn.

BB-8 rolled forward and beeped negatively. Finn couldn't speak binary and he had no clue that BB-8 was saying, so he trusted what Poe said. "That's okay. I'm just excited to spend sometime with you. We've been so busy and I haven't gotten to see you much as of late.”

"We do share a room," Poe pointed out with a tiny laugh.

Finn chuckled in agreement as he lifted a cup filled with blue milk to his lips. "That's true. We still miss each other. Either I'm sleeping and you're awake or you're sleeping and I'm awake. Not to mention that you still seemed married to your X-Wing."

Poe couldn't argue that. Finn certainly wasn't wrong. Poe would much rather be in his X-Wing than on the ground. "I guess I could work on that so we can spend some more time together."

"I don't want to make you get out of the cockpit. We just need to be a little more deliberate with our date nights," Finn suggested as he lifted the plate of food from the tray and set it between them to share. He handed Poe a fork before noticing an almost green hue creep onto Poe's face.

Finn took the first bite to see if that would coax Poe to eat. "It's not poison this time. Actually tastes pretty good if you ask me. Want to try," he asked as he lifted a bite toward Poe's lips.

Poe drew back instinctively. He swallowed thickly in an effort to calm his churning stomach. "N-No thanks," he stammered quickly. He wished that he could've choked something down, but he knew that it wouldn't be a good idea to even try. "I'm good."

Finn narrowed his eyes as he really took in Poe. He could see sweat beginning to collect on Poe's forehead and upper lip as well as how his eyes seemed to sink into his head. Finn wasn't sure how he didn't realize that when Poe first waltzed in, but something was definitely going on with him. He just had to figure out what it was.

"Hey, talk to me," Finn requested as he stretched out a hand toward Poe.

Poe waited for a moment before he stretched out his hand toward Finn. Finn took Poe's hand in his own and nearly gasped at the heat that he felt radiating just from Poe's hand. "Damn, Poe." Finn stood as he stretched out a hand and rested the back of his hand against Poe's forehead. He could feel the burning intensity and he drew back in shock. "You're burning up. Why in the galaxy did you even come out here when you were feeling like this? You should've told me and we could've waited to do this!”

"I didn't want to disappoint you," mumbled Poe tiredly, a rasp sounding at the end of his sentence. It caught in his throat and almost caused him to double over in a coughing spell.

Finn shook his head vigorously. "You wouldn't disappoint me. I would rather us not go out if you were feeling like this. Is it the flu? Balmorra flu maybe?"

Poe gritted his teeth. There was no way that he could tell Finn about what he knew was causing this. He tightened his injured arm around his back just in case Finn could see it. "I-I don't know," he stammered with his eyes starting to close in exhaustion. 

"C'mon. Let's go back to our room," Finn suggested lightly, lifting a hand to tuck a sweaty curl back that clung to Poe’s sweat drenched forehead.

Poe whimpered tiredly. "But, you haven't eaten yet. This was supposed to be our date night," he pointed out as he tried to keep the strength in his voice.

"So? We can have date night just as well if not better in our room. More privacy." Ordinarily that may mean something a little exciting for Finn, but he knew that it would have to be something very low key at the moment with Poe. Poe just wasn't strong enough for much, especially if he had the flu, which Finn was starting to think was a good possibility. "C'mon. Let's get going."

Finn rose from his seat before walking over to Poe. He left the tray of partially eaten food and hoped that someone would take it up to be washed later. For now he had to care for Poe and that was what he needed to focus on.

Finn helped Poe to his feet as Poe shuffled forward with exhaustion etched on his face as well as pain. That didn't make much sense to Finn, but he knew that this wasn't the place to ask those sort of questions. He watched as Poe tried to take a step and his legs seemed to crumble from under him.

Finn swiftly lunged to the side to catch his arm around Poe's waist to stop him from falling. Poe blinked his eyes in surprise that Finn actually had the reflexes to catch him. "I got you. I got you. Lean on me. I'm going to help you get back. Just let me help."

Poe was too tired to argue. He knew that he wouldn't be able to get back unless he let Finn help him. He just hoped that Finn wouldn't figure out what was really going on.


	3. Found Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn finds out what is wrong with Poe and it’s not pleasant.

Getting Poe back to the room was a long process for Finn. He finally managed to and propped him on their bed before Poe either fell down or passed out. Finn could still feel the intense heat wafting off of Poe in waves and Finn had no idea how Poe had gotten so sick so fast. He hadn't seemed that ill in the morning and Finn wished that he could see what happened. 

"Okay, let's get you out of these clothes," Finn replied as he reached for Poe's sleeves.

Poe suddenly drew back before Finn could touch him. "No," Poe rasped with his eyes wide in terror. His breath became quick and sporadic in almost desperation. 

Finn drew back in alarm at Poe's sudden an intense reaction, nodding patiently. "Okay, alright. I won't touch you, but you do need to get out of those clothes. You've sweat right through them."

Poe knew that Finn was right. That didn't mean that he wanted Finn to help him out of his clothes. He also wasn't sure if he could do it on his own. "I don't know....um....if.....that's....."

While Poe was still mumbling in an attempt to make any sense to Finn and himself, Finn turned his head when he swore that he saw something seeping from the side of his arm. "Poe," Finn started as he leaned forward and pulled Poe's sleeve down before Poe could even attempt to stop him.

"No," Poe croaked, but he was unable to fight it since Finn was so much stronger. Finn managed to roll up his sleeves and he gasped when he saw a makeshift bandage with gauze wrapped around Poe's arm. It leaked something foul smelling through the gauze and into to Poe's shirt. "It's nothing. Just a scratch."

Finn shook his head madly. "This is not a scratch! This is the blaster mark, isn't it? Why does it look like that?" Finn didn't expect Poe to have any answers to his questions, but that wasn't much of a comfort. He lifted a hand to his forehead and sighed heavily, stomach flipping in shock. "I need to look at it right away. Shit, this isn't good."

"Finn, no, I'm fine," protested Poe weakly as he tried to pull out of Finn's grasp.

Finn sat down on the bed beside Poe and worked out Poe's feebly attempts to pull him off. "No, no, Finn, stop," Poe continued as Finn started to unwrap the gauze from Poe's arm as nimbly as he could while trying to make sure none of the pus and blood got onto their bed. "Finn, stop it. Stop it!" Poe's hand suddenly shot out and collided harshly with Finn's cheek.

Eyes blinking in surprise, Finn turned to Poe. Never before had Poe been aggressive like that and it slightly startled Finn more than it had hurt him. "Look, I know that you don't like this, but I need to see what's going on. There's something wrong. Just let me look, okay?”  
  
Poe head slightly lolled forward. He sighed heavily as he licked his dry lips. "I-I'm sorry," he mumbled as if his mouth was stuffed with food.

"It's alright. It's okay. You didn't mean it. You're not yourself," Finn replied as he tried to look Poe in the eye, but Poe wouldn't look at him. Something was very wrong. That much he knew. He was just so out of it and he knew that it had something to do with this wound that he was still trying to see.

Poe stopped fighting him on it and Finn was able to pull the rest of the gauze from the wound. He let out a heavy sigh when he saw what was in front of him. The wound had an almost yellow sheen to it as pus and blood oozed from the wound. The smell also told Finn that something was very, very wrong. "Alright, this isn't good. This isn't good at all," Finn announced as he lifted his free hand and rubbed it at his forehead once more.

"What's wrong," Poe asked innocently.

Finn gave his head a small shake. "It's just an infected wound. I've seen them numerous times, but not like this. This is really deep."

Poe struggled to follow what Finn was saying. His words were coming in an out and not making any sense in his mind. "Deep. Deep. Deep. Deep. Oceans are deep. Super deep and just deep. Doesn't mean much. Being deep," Poe chattered.

Finn looked up from Poe's wound to the Resistance General. He stretched out a hand and rested it against Poe's forehead. Finn almost recoiled from the sudden heat that radiating from Poe. "You're burning up, Poe. You're even warmer than you were at the mess hall." He suddenly turned back to look at BB-8. "I need you to go and find one of the medics. Hurry!"

BB-8 gave an affirmative beep before turning to speed out of the room, D-O close on his trail. Finn turned back to Poe as the pilot's eyes widened in alarm. A few tears started to flow from his open eyes as he whimpered. "I don't understand. I don't understand. I don't......."

"Shhh, shhh," chided Finn as he lowered Poe's arm gently. He reached out a hand and ran his fingers through Poe's disheveled and now sweaty hair. "It's okay. I'm going to make this better. Then I'm going to give you a stern talking to for worrying me like this."

Poe's head twitched to the side. "Sound like my mother. Worried her for a bit. I was trouble," Poe choked out with his eyes darting around the room in an effort to find something to focus on.

"I'm sure you were trouble," continued Finn as he tried to piece together what Poe was saying. "I mean, you're trouble now. I can only imagine what little Poe was like. Probably raised all kinds of hell, huh? I actually feel bad for your parents."

Poe managed to quell his twitching hand for a couple seconds. He struggled to tip his head up at Finn without falling over. "Pain ins sass," Poe murmured.

Finn tilted his head. "What?"

Poe looked frustrated for a moment as he tried to answer. "Pain sin ass," he choked out, words practically slurred beyond understanding. Each word struggled to leave his mouth as he blinked confusion from his eyes.   
  
Finn couldn't help but smile as he nodded in understanding. "Pain in the ass? Yes, you definitely are a pain in my ass, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm sure I can be a pain in yours all the time. Would you have it any other way?"

Poe made a sort of sound in the back of his throat and Finn couldn't help but laugh. "I'll take that as a no, I guess," he murmured."

The smile that had been on Poe's face immediately started to fade. His eyes closed and then opened as his body went rigid as the whole world for him went black.


	4. Make It Through

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A drastic turn of events has Finn fearful for Poe’s life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for graphic depictions of a seizure.

"Poe!"

Finn lunged forward as Poe fell sideways with his body convulsing. His eyes rolled back in his head and his head snapped back. His jaw grew firm as his arms were almost brought up with his chest with his hands clutched into claws. He let out guttural sounds in the back of his throat as his foam gushed from his mouth and rolled down his cheek.

Terror washed over Finn as he stood over Poe and struggled to keep him on his side. He remembered training somewhere explaining what to do when someone had a seizure, but that had been an explanation about something that may happen. This was Poe right in front of him and Finn had no idea what to do. 

Suddenly, the door opened as DD-8 and D-O led a medic in. Finn recognized the younger medic as a human that everyone called Howl for his fascination with any creature that he came into contact with. Finn had never spoken to him, but he had only heard good things.

"Help him,” Finn nearly pleaded as Poe continued to shake in his arms.

Howl rushed forward and immediately started to push Finn back. Finn stubbornly refused to let Howl take his place. "I need you to step back," Howl told him calmly.

Finn gave his head a massive shake. "No," he exclaimed firmly, tears collecting in the corner of his eyes.

Howl was smaller than Finn, but he had an authority about him that Finn could see and certainly wouldn't challenge. "If you want me to help Poe then you need to move, now," Howl commanded with his gaze hardening.

Finn let out a low moan in fear as he reluctantly slid off the bed from beside Poe. He struggled backwards as Howl jumped onto the bed and held Poe steady on his side as his body continued to thrash against him. His legs stuck out straight like wooden planks while an almost choking sound echoed in the back of his throat as pain seemed to wash over him. Finn longed to do something, but he knew that Howl was Poe's best shot. Anything Finn did would be emotionally charged and may not be helpful to the Resistance pilot.

"Finn, I need you to go into the bathroom and wet some towels and washcloths will cool water," Howl explained calmly as he looked over his shoulder to the trembling man.

Finn gulped heavily. "T-Towels," he echoed.

Howl nodded slowly. "BB-8 told me you thought his wound was infected and I can see that. This seizure is probably caused by his fever. We need to cool him down," he instructed as calmly as he could while still keeping Poe's head from snapping against the wall or headboard.

Finn felt BB-8 slightly run into him and that pulled his thoughts. He gave his head a heavy shake before darting forward. "Right? Right! I can do that," he announced as he headed forward quickly while trying to shake out the absolute terror that he felt. He was relieved to have something to do other than watch the man that he loved struggle like that.

He made his way into the fresher and grabbed as many towels and washcloths as possible. He ran them under cool water like Howl had said before bringing them out. He was relieved to see that Poe was no longer seizing, but he wasn't conscious either. Finn crept forward with his eyes widening. "I-Is he okay," he stammered worryingly.

Howl slightly snorted in distain. "Okay is a relative term if you ask me. He's not out of the woods yet, but at least he stopped seizing. His fever is too high to be left like that and I would prefer to have him closer to observe him," Howl replied.

Finn's face fell even more. He didn't need to read too much between the lines to know what Howl was saying. "He has to go to the infirmary, doesn't he," fretted Finn worryingly.

"I would say it would be the best course of action," answered Howl gravely. "That way there's more healers there and he would be more comfortable."

Finn wasn't sure if that was true. However, he knew that he wasn't even the slightest bit well equipped to deal with it. He didn't want anything to happen to Poe because of it. He sighed heavily as he handed the washcloths to Howl. "Can I come? I-I don't want to leave him."

"Of course," responded Howl as he started to gingerly sponge the sweat from Poe's forehead. "I know that he would appreciate it if you came. Besides, he's going to need you to get through this."


	5. Making Strides

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The conclusion of how Finn and Poe deal with the events that transpired.

Heaviness seemed to rest on Poe as he tried to open his eyes. He willed them open and yet he struggled. His head flopped weakly to the side as he managed to open one eye and then the other followed. Both immediately closed as he fought to open them once again. Exhaustion settled over him as well as a tightness in his chest. His entire body ached as if he had just gone for a run while his arm felt like it was on fire.

Poe lifted his uninjured hand and it collided with something plastic over his mouth. He grabbed it feebly in an attempt to remove it before he felt a light touch on his own hand and pulled it away from whatever was over his face. “Hey, leave that there,” chided a warm and comforting voice.

With another massive surge of effort, Poe managed to open his eyes. It took a moment for them to focus on something towering over him, casting a long shadow. Poe visibly flinched in alarm until he could make out more distinct features and he realized that it was Finn. “F-Finn,” Poe wheezed as he felt his lungs ache in the attempt.

Finn sat down on the side of the bed that Poe found himself on. “Yeah, yeah, it’s me,” Finn whispered with relief in his eyes.

Poe groaned as he tried to move. Finn instantly reached out his hand on his shoulder to keep him from moving. “Easy, you’re been through a good bit. Howl doesn’t want you moving too much.”

Poe sucked in a few heavy breaths before he noticed the almost terrified look on Finn’s face. His eyes also looked puffy as if he had been trying. “What’s wrong,” Poe questioned as he lifted a hand weekly and feebly tried to rub his thumb over Finn’s cheek.

Finn took Poe’s hand gently in his own before bringing it up to his lips and plating a small kiss on Poe’s knuckles. He could still feel the tension in Poe’s hand where he had been locked in that painful position with his fingers like claws. “Do you remember what happened?”

“Um, no,” replied Poe as breath billowed around the mask, making it heat up. “What happened?”

Finn sighed heavily. “You had a pretty deep infection. It caused a fever and that caused a seizure. You scared me, Poe,” he explained with his throat almost closing in emotion.

That would explain why Poe felt like he had just been thrown against a wall. His head throbbed and his shoulder felt like it had been dislocated. He had dislocated his shoulder before and it had hurt, but not quite like this. Everything hurt and his head was fuzzy. “M’sorry.”

“I know. I suppose it’s not all your fault. I should’ve known that something was going on with you,” sighed Finn as he lifted his hand and ran if through Poe’s curly hair. “But, you can’t keep things like that from me anymore, alright? I was so scared. I thought I was going to loose you.”

Poe gave his head a weak shake. “You won’t loose me. I won’t go anywhere,” he gasped through the confines of the mask. He lifted his hand to pull it away only to find Finn battering his hand away once more so that he was forced to speak through the mask again.

“You had better not.” Finn’s face then fell as he suddenly leaned over and wrapped Poe in a tight hug. Poe’s entire body seemed to scream in protest, but he couldn’t let that show. Finn was just too delicate at the moment, so Poe closed his eyes tightly and allowed himself to almost welcome the pain. “What would I have done if I would’ve lost you? All over an infected wound!”

Poe sighed heavily. “I don’t know,” he confessed, still struggling to breathe.

Finn immediately realized that he was almost crushing Poe and drew back suddenly. “Sorry,” he began as he lifted a hand to rub at the back of his neck. “Just promise me that it won’t happen again.”

“I promise that it won’t happen again.” Poe closed his eyes tightly. “Definitely won’t happen again. This kriffing sucks. M’head is throbbing and my body aches like I had the flu. I’d be stupid to do anything that may cause this to happen again.”

While Finn didn’t want Poe to be in any sort of pain, ever, he did see how this could be seen as a blessing. This would teach Poe to listen to his body and not to take unnecessary chances. Or at least Finn hoped that it would teach Poe a lesson. He couldn’t have this be repeated again. 

“I’m sorry you feel that bad,” Finn continued. “Is there anything that I can do to make it better?”

Poe thought for a moment before nodding. “Lay with me,” he requested in a timid voice.

Finn brightened. “Now that’s something that I can do.” He kicked off his boots before nudging Poe softly. “Scoot over. You can’t take over all of the bed.”

“Blame it on my hips,” Poe quipped through the mask with his eyebrows trying to lift seductively. He ended up just making a goofy face that caused Finn to chuckle.

Finn leaned over and kissed Poe’s temple. He then snuggled against Poe gently as he wrapped an arm around him in an effort to comfort him while not causing him anymore pain. Poe grunted as he tried his best to shift as much as he could toward Finn. His shoulder throbbed, but he didn’t want to let Finn know that. He couldn’t ruin the moment, at least not anymore than he feared that he had already ruined it.

“Comfortable,” asked Finn as he looked down to plant a kiss on Poe’s lips lightly. He could still imagine his boyfriend thrashing on the bed with his eyes rolled up in his head from the earlier seizure. He knew that he was never going to be able to get that vision from his mind.

Poe managed a slight nod while the mask that helped him breathe slightly crunched in the struggle for him to press as much against Finn as possible. “Now that I’m with you.”

“I love you so much,” Finn murmured. His voice broke with emotion as the fear from earlier seemed to surface once more and all he could do was bury himself against Poe. 

Poe knew that he had scared Finn. He hadn’t meant to. He just thought that he could take care of himself and he realized that could not be the case. “I love you too,” Poe responded. Even though he felt awful and he knew that he had scared Finn more than he deserved, he loved the man more than anything. He would just need to be more careful in the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who enjoyed this story and left kudos or a comment. I appreciate each and every one of them. I hope that you all enjoyed and are staying safe and healthy!


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